Catchfence

The Cherry Hill Classic Cars #77 Dodge, of Tom Hessert, pulled into the Berlin Raceway with the same car that had proved so quick at Mansfield Motorsports Park a few weeks earlier. With high expectations, reality showed them that there was a lot of work to do, when they took to the track for the open test session Friday before the one day race event began Saturday. When the team began the lone practice session on Saturday, they returned to form, staying in the top-5 during the entire session, finishing as the 2nd quickest. Hessert qualified 3rd with a time of 17.232, right behind teammate Dakoda Armstrong at 17.189.

Hessert lost a couple of spots when the green flag flew, falling back to 6th, but quickly got back to third, where he ran through the first 50 laps of the 200 lap event. He told crew chief John Monsam, “The car is really good. It is a little loose up off (the corner).” During the first caution on lap 54, Monsam told Hessert to stay out. As the laps continued to progress without a caution, Hessert began falling back through the field, to 12th by lap 96.

Hessert was getting more and more frustrated with his Dodge, as he continued to express displeasure about his race car over the radio. On lap 125, as the Hoosier tires gave up more and more grip, Hessert lost a lap. Fortunately for the #77, the caution flag came out on lap 145, giving the team an opportunity to pit for 4 tires, fuel and a track bar adjustment. As the “lucky dog”, Hessert got his lap back to rejoin the other 10 cars on the lead lap.

Tom used the “lucky dog” to his advantage as he started picking off positions one-by-one. By lap 184, he had made it to 6th, where he was battling with teammate Armstrong for 5th. Five laps later, they were fighting for 4th. On lap 195, Hessert took over the 4th spot, where he would finish when the checkered flag flew.

The 4th place finish kept Hessert 4th in ARCA Racing Series championship points, and tightened up the battle for the top spot. Hessert is just 55 points behind the leader. After bringing his Dodge to the front stretch after the race, Hessert told the radio audience, listening live through arcaracing.com, “We had a good qualifying run and were good in the first part of the race. We didn’t expect the race to go green so long in the middle part of the race. Our tires gave up so much grip. We lost a lap and fortunately got the “lucky dog” and had a great finish. We had a solid run today. I am very proud of the whole team. We had a really good day.”

Next up for the Cunningham Motorsports teams is the annual trip to New Jersey Motorsports Park, in Millville, New Jersey for the Garden State ARCA 150 presented by American Red Cross. This trip will mark the third time that the ARCA Racing Series presented by RE/MAX and Mendards has raced at the track.

It will also be the third time that Hessert has raced on the track that he refers to as his “home track.” In his previous starts at the track he finished 8th in 2009, 19th in 2008 and has qualified 11th both times. The Cherry Hill, New Jersey native is excited about racing so close to home, in front of friends and family. “I always enjoy racing close to home so that many of my friends and family can come to the racetrack. It is nice to have that extra support from them,” said Hessert.

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- Cunningham Mootrsports Press Release